Flooring jack



Mam 1923.

. 1,447,720 E. L. HALL FLOORING JACK Filed Nov. 10, 1921 2 sheets sheet l E. L. HALL FLOORING JACK Filed Nov. 10, 1921 I 2 sheets-sheet 2 7 i 4 /Z 4 /Z l 62 5 27- W A atented Mar. 6, 1923.

rear" rein 1 FLOORING- JACK.

Application filed November 10, 1921. Serial No. 514,286.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be itknown that I, ERICK HALL,a citizen of the United States, residing at lindianapolis, in thecounty of Marion, State ofIndiana, have invented a new and useful Flooring Jack; and Ido herebyfdeclare the following to be ai'ull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to ma keand use the same.

The inventionllrelatesto floor jacks and hase t bj ct tor ev e e ic f h character comprising a U-shaped, member adaptedto be clamped to a joist, a rack lon gitudinally movable in said clamping member above the joistland provided with a plank engaging element, said rackbeing longitudinally movable by a seginentally shaped lever carried gear. Also to provide means for holding "the lever and gearin various positions. p I l A further object is to provide adjustable blocks carried by threaded shafts extending rearwardly from the board engaging member, said blocks forming means whereby boards may be jacked and held when it is impossible to use the board engaging member.

A. further object is to provide the board engaging element with a transverse slot for the reception of the tongue of a floor board and with a cutaway portion allowing a floor ing nail to be driven intothe board adjacent its tongue and into the joist beneath the board.

With the above and other objects in View the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of. the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the floor jack showing the same in position for use. Figure 2 is a top plan view of the'floor 'ack.

1 Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the fioor jack taken on line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a base, which base is U -shaped in transverse cross section and rests on the upper side of the joist 2. Base 1 has its flanges 3 and a downwardly disposed and the flange 4 provided with sharpened lugs 5 which are forced into one face of a joist 2 by means of a pivoted cam 6 which engages the opposite side of the joist 2. It will be seen that the base 1 may be easily and quickly clamped on the joist 2 for rigidly holding the device as a whole during a floor board jacking operation. Extending upwardly from the base 1 are spaced flanges 7 and 8, between which flanges is pivotally mounted on a pin 9 an operating lever 10. The lower end of the lever below the pivotal pin 9 is provided with segmentally disposed gear teeth 11 which mesh with gear teeth12 in a horizontally disposed rack bar 13, which rack bar is longitudinally movable according to the direction of movement of the lever 10. The rack bar 13 is slidably mounted in guides 14; of the flanges 7 and 8, therefore it will be seen that during the oscillation of the operating lever 10 that the rack bar 13 willalso operate. The forward end 15 of the rack bar is provided with a transversely disposed board engaging member 16 which is provided with a transversely disposed groove 17 which receives the tongue 18 of the flooring board 19, therefore it will be seen that when the rack bar 15 and the members 16 are forced in the direction of the arrow a, the board 19 will be forced into close and binding engagement with an adjacent board, and if so desired held in said position by means of the pivoted dog 20 which cooperates with the ratchet teeth 21 carried by the flange 8. By providing holding means for holding the bar 15 against rearward movement, it will be seen that a board may be held at one point adjacent a joist and that the operator may drive nails angularly through the board adjacent the tongue 18, thereby securing the board to the joist. The transversely disposed member 16 is provided with a cutaway portion 22, which is in communication with the transversely disposed groove 17 and which allows a nail 23 to be driven into the board 19 adjacent the tongue 18 and into the joist 2 on which the device is secured, thereby allowing the board to be secured to every joist. The pivoted dog 20 has connected thereto a connecting rod 24, which rod has its upper end connected at 25 to a pivoted finger engaging member 26, by means of which finger engaging memberthe pivoted dog 20 may be controlled, however a. coiled spring 27 is interposed between the finger engaging member 26 and the lever 10, at a point above the pivotal point of the finger engaging member 26 and forms means whereby the pivoted dog is maintained in engagement with the ratchet teeth 21 during a rearward movement of" the lever 10, thereby holdingthe lever against forward movement immediately upon release of the finger engaging member 26.

Pivotally connected at 28 adjacent the outer ends of the transversely disposed members 16 are rearwardly extending threaded shafts 29, which shafts have threaded thereon blocks 30 which may be screwed onto the shafts 29 to various positions, and utilized for pulling. the boards into place when the boards are too close together to apply the device to the upper side of a joist. WVhen the blocks 30 are utilized the device is disposed on top of the flooring and the tongue 18 of the board "is received in the transversely disposed grooves 32 adjacent the lower ends of the blocks. Threaded shafts 29 may be detached when not needed by simply removingthe cotter pins 33, which extend through apertures in the upwardly extending angular portions 34 carried by the threadedshaft 29.

From the above it will be seen that a floor jack is provided, which jack is simple in construction the parts reduced to a minimum and the device compact thereby providing a jack which may be easily handled and moved from place to place.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as new'and useful is A floor jack comprising a U-shaped base, clamping means forclamping said U-shaped base to a support, a rack .bar slidably mounted in said base,- a board engaging member carried by one end of said rack'bar and located at one side of the jack, alever pivoted in the clamping member, arcuately on board engaging blocks having trans versely disposed grooves therein and located at the opposite side of the jack from the first mentioned board engaging member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERICK 7L. HALL Witnesses: I 7

,WIILIAM L. Coomt, FRANK DRIVER. 

